Lydia (Johnson) Hall (bef. 1807 - bef. 1896)

Born before 29 Jul 1807 in Parwich, Derbyshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of John Hall — married 4 Jul 1826 in Parwich, Derbyshire, England

Descendants

Died before 20 Oct 1896 at about age 89 in Chorlton cum Hardy, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Lydia Hall was born in 1807 in Parwich, Derbyshire, which is still a pretty village in a lovely location. She was christened July 29th at the parish church there. She was the daughter of William Johnson and Sarah (Walton) Johnson.

Lydia married John Hall on July 4th 1826 at Parwich. She would have been 19 or possibly 18. Her husband was a farm labourer all his life.

By 1841, Lydia and John were living in Ballidon (in the same area). They had four children - Joseph (10), Henry (7), Martha (5) and John (2).

By 1851, they were living on Ballidon Moor Farm (now a campsite - photos at https://www.ballidonmoorfarm.co.uk/). There were three children with them - German (7), Luke (5) and George (2) as well as Lydia's widowed mother, who was 84 years old and a pauper.

By 1861, there was only one child in the household - Samuel, aged 9. They were still in Ballidon.

By 1871 they were still in Ballidon, and Samuel was still with them. However his occupation was listed as "labourer (now ill)" so he was probably too ill to work; he died in the second quarter of 1871. John, at 77, was also still listed as an agricultural labourer; but since Lydia was working as a charwoman, he may not have been getting paid much. Or perhaps they needed extra money for the doctor's bills because of Samuel's illness, or were saving up so John could give up the farm work.

Lydia's granddaughter Jennie related that Lydia told her grandchildren a very romantic story about her past, involving descent from the nobility, running away from boarding school to marry a farmer, and family heirlooms that had mysteriously vanished (see Notes for details). However it doesn't seem to have been based on the facts - her eldest brother was, like her husband, an agricultural labourer, and her mother in 1851 was a pauper, and lived with Lydia, so there is no evidence of any money in the family in her generation, and she married in her home parish, so there was no elopement.

John and Lydia's son Joseph (a builder) was living at 101 Birch Lane, Dukinfield in 1871. His wife was running a small shop, which was probably in Joseph's name as he is listed in the 1874 directory of Cheshire as a grocer in Dukinfield.

Joseph died in 1874, and this may be why John and Lydia moved to 101 Birch Lane, Dukinfield and took over the grocer's shop. It would probably have been light work for them compared to agricultural labourer and charwoman, in their old age.

Joseph's widow Sarah remarried in 1876, to John and Lydia's son German. This was illegal at the time, but the law was somewhat controversial.^[1] Unfortunately, German's illegal activities extended farther - in 1881 he was convicted of attempted rape. It seems unlikely Lydia could have avoided hearing about the 1881 crime, which was in the newspapers, and it would very likely have caused her considerable distress.

John had died before 1881, but exactly when is unknown. Lydia's address in 1881 was 101 Birch Lane, and she was described as "widow of a grocer", so it's not clear whether she was still trying to run the shop or had given it up. She had an 11-year-old grandson Samuel (the son of the deceased Joseph) living with her, perhaps to help.

By 1891, Lydia was 83 and no longer in a paid job. She was living with her daughter-in-law Sarah in Trafford Road, Salford. Sarah was running a grocery shop again after the death of her second husband, and there were five grandchildren in the household aged between 13 and 25.

Lydia died in 1896 in Chorlton and was buried October 20th in Southern Cemetery, Chorlton.

Research Notes

John died before 1881; there is no death registration for him in the local area, so probably he and Lydia had moved to the Manchester area to be near their children before his death.

In the 1881 census, Lydia is described as widow of a grocer, and while this might have been another fairytale, it's not unlikely John and Lydia might have opened a little grocer's shop when they moved to the city, to allow John to retire from the more strenuous demands of farm work and still provide them with some income in their old age. There are a number of instances of miners in the family tree who became grocers in later life.

From Jennie in a letter sent during WWII: "Your great grandmother told us she ran away from boarding school aged 17 and married a farmer. Her father was a younger son of a member of the nobility with a church living in the family, and as was the custom in the 18th century the younger sons went into the church or army. Grandmother's family never forgave her for her marriage and dropped her, but when her father was seriously ill, he softened and ordered an old oak chest be packed with some of the old silver family heirlooms and sent her - a cousin had been adopted in her place. The chest arrived with wrappings only, but had a coat of arms on and was kept and given to one of her nine children. One son is still living in Stockport but we haven't seen him since she died in 1898 - she was born in 1807."

I read somewhere - I believe it was in Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson - that this story was a Victorian equivalent of an urban myth - it was widespread and attached itself to the teller's family wherever it went. It's a good story anyhow! And the 9 children bit is true; 1898 is close but incorrect, 1807 is spot on, John Hall was an agricultural labourer but his children seemed to like putting him down as a farmer on official documents - they must have aspired to upward mobility, as a farmer, who although he was often a tenant, was in charge of running a farm, was a big step up from an agricultural labourer, who worked for the farmer. I haven't yet found which son lived near Stockport in 1896 but I see no reason to doubt it's correct.

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deceased_Wife%27s_Sister%27s_Marriage_Act_1907

• Baptism "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3QV-F8V : 30 December 2014, Lydia Johnson, 29 Jul 1807); citing PARWICH,DERBY,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 428,932, 498,113.

• Marriage "England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KBDZ-LTR : 30 November 2017), John Hall and Lydia Johnson, 04 Jul 1826; citing 04 Jul 1826; citing Marriage, Parwich, Parwich, Derbyshire, England, Manchester Central Library, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,107.

• Burial Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157115523/lydia-hall : accessed 31 January 2018), memorial page for Lydia Hall (29 Jul 1807–20 Oct 1896), Find A Grave: Memorial #157115523, citing Southern Cemetery, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Metropolitan Borough of Manchester, Greater Manchester, England ; Maintained by Cyndi (contributor 47314338) .

• "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7S1-BL7 : 13 December 2017), Lydia Hall in household of John Hall, Bradbourne, Derbyshire, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGD4-38G : 21 October 2017), German Hall in household of John Hall, Ballidon, Derbyshire, England; citing Ballidon, Derbyshire, England, p. 29, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7F8-DKV : 19 October 2017), Samuel Hall in household of John Hall, Ballidon, Derbyshire, England; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBXK-445 : 24 June 2017), Samuel Hall in entry for John Hall, 1871.

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27P-5K4D : 13 December 2017), Samuel Hall in household of Lydia Hall, Dukinfield (Cheshire), Lancashire, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 11, Piece/Folio 4052/72, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,775,150.

• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:78NN-3PZ : 10 December 2017), German Hall in household of Sarah Hall, Salford, Lancashire, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Lancashire county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.

The civil registration index, and the England and Wales censuses, are Crown Copyright.